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Weak carbon prices threaten the EU’s environmental leadership

The EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) works by capping the output of carbon dioxide and then distributing allowances to emit the gas to large energy users. The tighter the cap, the more expensive it is for firms to produce carbon dioxide. The European Commission is relying on carbon pricing to encourage companies to invest in new green technologies. It also hopes that the ETS will form the basis of a global carbon market. However, carbon prices under the scheme have fallen by two-thirds in just over six months. At December’s UN conference in Copenhagen, the EU wanted to persuade big emerging economies such as China and India to take action to curb their own output of greenhouse gases. This was a tough task, given that Europe’s flagship environmental policy is not working....